Top Montreal official resigns from Plante administration after reports of spending in previous post
Dominique Ollivier, the chair of Montreal's executive committee, has resigned.
Ollivier announced Monday she is stepping down effective immediately. She will continue to serve the citizens of her district, Vieux-Rosemont.
Her decision comes after Montreal's Official Opposition called for her resignation following a Journal de Montréal investigation into spending at the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) between 2014 and 2021— when Ollivier headed the organization.
The OCPM organizes public consultations in Montreal. Ollivier was not an elected official when she was the president of the agency.
The newspaper reported that during her tenure there, Ollivier spent tens of thousands of dollars on trips to cities like Paris, Lyon, London and Panama and enjoyed lavish meals, including a $350 oyster supper for an employee's birthday.
Ollivier was born in Haiti in 1964 and moved to Montreal with her parents at age two. Since the story broke with allegations of mismanaging funds, she said she has been told to go back to where she came from, or that she should spend the rest of her life in prison.
"They attacked my integrity, both moral and physical," she said. "I have way too much respect for the work of my colleagues ... for the people of Montreal in general to allow the recent controversy to undermine the public's confidence in all the work that's been done and is still being done to make the right choices."
She said she asked the city's finance commission to meet with her Friday so that she can provide them with an account of her management choices at the head of the OPCM.
Ollivier's move comes just two days before the city is set to release the municipal budget.
The leader of the opposition at Montreal city hall, Aref Salem, described Ollivier's resignation as "the thing to do," saying the controversy surrounding her undermined Montrealers' trust in the municipal council.
Speaking of Ollivier's expenses, Salem says, from the beginning , it was very clear that her actions were unacceptable.
"Ethically, morally, we have no right to do that," he said.
He then called on the current president of the OPCM, Isabelle Beaulieu, and OPCM secretary-general Guy Grenier to follow suit.
"The three of them don't have Montrealers' trust to carry on in their roles," he said.
Last week, Ollivier told Radio-Canada's Le téléjournal avec Patrice Roy that the oyster expense "was not my best idea" but defended her spending.
Ollivier made history as the first Black person to become chair of the Montreal executive committee. Before joining Plante's administration, she had 30 years of experience in project management and communications.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is scheduled to address the media at 4 p.m.
